A seated bronze figure of Buddha wearing a gilt robe with chiseled brocade, both hands placed on the lap palms facing up, with the right hand overlapping the left in Dhyana Mudra, or "gesture of meditation". This gesture is also known as the Yoga Mudra.

On a raised platform and surrounded by a mandorla, we can see the image in elegant contraposto of the bodhisattva Guanyin, recognizable for the bare chest that characterized this image up to the Song dynasty in its male of hermaphroditic stage. Breaking through the gilding, a copper patina of a pleasant light blue provides a nice contrast with the mostly intact gilding.

Of simple but classical and elegant form, this well-patinated vessel can be held by two handles made up from the emanations of two mythical beasts. The foot and a band near the rim show a similar decoration of stylized, confronting phoenixes and taotie-masks. The interior is inscribed with archaic characters. A rich patina has developed, with malachite and cuprite inclusions. Some restoration.

Microscopic and chemical analysis have been performed by Orenda Laboratories and support the above dating.

Late Warring States period to early Han dynasty,
3rd to 2nd century BC
Height: 10 in (26 cm) excluding handle

The tall vase of cylindrical form is raised on three small feet, with two taotie-mask handles connected to a handle that rises above the container and connects by a chain with a flush-fitting lid. The surface is covered with a lovely patina of green and red tones.

For a smaller, but very similar example in the British Museum, see Christian Deydier, Chinese Bronzes (New York: 1980), cat. no. 83.

Microscopic and chemical analysis have been performed by Orenda Laboratories and support the above dating.

The white bronze eight-foiled mirror is simply decorated with a large dragon in motion, and flower patterns; together with a museum-style armature stand (not illustrated).

Compare with a very similar example of the same size in the National Palace Museum, and published in Masterpieces of Chinese Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, cat. no. 32, and another published in Li Xueqin, The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, from the Anthony & Susan Hardy Collections and the Sze Yuan Tang, Asian Civilisations Museum (Singapore), 2000, cat. no. 107.